Tracking baby's milestones through coloured beads

two parents with their child in the NICU
Matthew and Kelsey Annan with baby Jacob and his milestone beads.

When the day finally comes to welcome a new little member of the family, the news your baby has to be admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is something parents can never prepare for.

“It's an indescribable feeling to have your baby admitted to the NICU,” says Kelsey Annan, a new mom whose baby boy was admitted and stayed for 28 days. “I can't even remember all the nurses I saw and spoke to during the first day and what it all meant.”

Parents whose babies are admitted to the Tippet Foundation Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at North York General Hospital (NYGH) are overwhelmed with questions about the progress of their baby's health. Kerri Caplan, Child Life Specialist in the Maternal, Newborn and Paediatric Care Program, created a modified version of an existing program for parents in the NICU to help them look forward to positive developments in their baby's journey and bring them joy during their stay. 

“With the help from our staff and Parent Advisory Council, we created the Milestone Beads initiative based on key milestones each baby on the unit meets such as their first bath, first skin to skin, weight gain, immunizations and other key developmental steps in their journey,” says Kerri. “This new program is a way for parents to track the progress of their baby's health on their Milestone Beads Legend Card, and provides a visual reminder of how far they have come.”

volunteers preparing beads for the NICU
From left: Kerri Caplan, Child Life Specialist in the Maternal, Newborn and Paediatric Care Program, and Dayna Black, volunteer

Each time a baby reaches a milestone, a different coloured bead is added to their bracelet which hangs near the baby's incubator. Dayna Black, Parent Support Volunteer, makes her rounds every Friday checking the baby milestone bracelets to make sure they all have their up-to-date beads. “It's a program that really connects everyone, from nurses to parents and even volunteers,” says Dayna. “It's something I look forward to every Friday, to see their journey through the different coloured beads and it always strikes up positive conversations with parents.”

“As a first time mom, and being in the NICU, I had no idea what “milestones” I was supposed to look forward to and what to celebrate,” says Kelsey. “The Milestone Beads program gave us something to look forward to and it made us feel part of the team. Each day we could see our baby's progress, and that was the greatest gift.” 

The last set of beads placed on the bracelet is the number of days the baby stayed on the unit. “It's going to be a really nice keepsake for Jacob when he is older,” says Kelsey as she and her husband prepare to take their baby home. “It will be a nice way to share the story with him and something he can cherish forever.”

This article first appeared in the December 2017-January 2018 issue of The Pulse.

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